National inquiry launched into mould-related illnesses

A parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry into mould-related illnesses in Australia, just weeks after a Nine.com.au investigation uncovered a disturbing link between the biotoxin and failing health.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport will undertake the inquiry.

“The committee will also examine available research regarding CIRS and illnesses caused from water damaged buildings in Australia.”

CIRS is a little known condition believed to be caused by a build-up of biotoxins in the body from substances, most commonly mould, that can lead to a range of symptoms affecting everything from brain function to respiratory problems.

It is thought to have connections to Lyme disease, and although not as high-profile as the latter, is often treated with the same degree of scepticism.

As reported by nine.com.au, NSW MP Lucy Wicks is one of about 1500 Australians who have been diagnosed with the chronic and debilitating condition.

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However, doctors specialising in the health impacts of mould believe the number of sufferers could be far greater.

Ms Wicks made calls for a national inquiry in April and said she was delighted with today’s news.

“I think it’s wonderful to see that an issue that is probably not very well known at the moment, but incredibly important, is getting some national attention now,” she said.

“It’s a very important next step in the process and I think people being brave enough to share their stories as so many have done with Nine.com.au has probably been quite instrumental in getting it to the point we are at now.

“My personal belief is that this inquiry, in raising awareness, allowing sufferers to share their story, hearing from experts and looking at the evidence, may actually allow the committee to gather evidence and provide recommendations and I think that is an amazing outcome for today.”

Ms Wicks first noticed the strange symptoms of her illness back in 2016, but had no idea what was causing it.

Ebony Rehannon says she developed a lung infection due to the mould problem in her rental property. (Supplied)

“I would start to stumble and my words would disappear and then I would forget what I was saying. I thought it was nerves. I thought well I must be nervous talking about something,” Ms Wicks said.

It would be months before the MP for Gosford on the NSW Central Coast connected her mystery illness to an 80m tree that had come crashing through the roof of her home during a storm in April 2015. The tree caused water damage, and unbeknown to her, mould had started to grow in hidden pockets of her home.

Melbourne woman Ebony Rehannon is another sufferer. When she moved into a Melbourne rental house in November last year strange mushrooms started sprouting out of the bathroom walls. Around the same time, Ms Rehannon developed a severe migraine that lasted for four days.

“I was vomiting for days and I couldn’t go to work. I had no idea what was going on but I was a bit freaked out,” she told nine.com.au.

Liberal MP Lucy Wicks, her husband Chris and daughter daughter Mollie-Joy stand next to the roots of the tree that crashed into their home. (Supplied)

Despite living in near new, or newly-renovated apartments across Sydney’s eastern suburbs, Mr Macduffie had somewhere along the way been exposed to an invisible toxic mould, but it would take him and his doctors five years to figure this out.

“I had extreme fatigue. So I would come home from a busy day at work at six o’clock and be asleep. I would be fundamentally just shattered at the weekends.”

“I had a myriad of other really unusual, unrelated symptoms. I woke up a couple of nights with facial paralysis and numbness down my left side. I couldn’t feel my arm, I couldn’t feel my face.

“I had to wake my wife up because I thought I was having a stroke. I got diagnosed with Bell’s palsy.”

Ms Wicks said since going public with her story, she had been contacted by more than 1000 people suffering from mould-related illnesses.

“I am hearing so many stories. A 16-year-old girl wrote to me just this afternoon on messenger asking for help and her story is one that you could cry reading,” she said.

“This is really good news for people like that 16-year-old girl, for Ebony, for Mark from the Commonwealth Bank, who have shared their stories that there is hope and people can be well.”